Jack Norths Treasure Hunt | Page 4

he could, this portion falling
largely on Jack to do in addition to his own.
Jack paid no heed to this, however, but kept about his work as if
everything was all right, until a little incident occurred which
completely changed the aspect of affairs.
Unknown to our hero, there had been a practice of long standing among
the workmen of "testing" every new hand that came in, by playing what
was believed to be a smart trick upon him. The joke consisted in
sending the new hand in company with a fellow workman to bring from
a distant part of the shop a pair of wheels, one of which was of iron and
weighed over four hundred pounds, while its mate was made of wood
and finished off to look exactly like its companion. The workman in the
secret always looked out and got hold of the wooden wheel, which he
could carry off with ease, while his duped associate would struggle
over the other to the unbounded amusement of the lookers-on.
It heightened the effect by selecting a small, weak man to help in the
deception, and Henshaw, liking this joke no less than his men, on the
third day of Jack's apprenticeship, said:
"North, you and Mires bring along them wheels at the lower end. Don't
be all day about it either," speaking with unusual sharpness.
"Yes, sir."
In a moment every one present was watching the scene, beginning to
smile as they saw Mires start with suspicious alacrity toward the
wheels. Some of the men, in order to get as good a view as possible of
the expected exhibition, stationed themselves near at hand, having hard
work to suppress their merriment in advance.

"Purty stout, air ye?" asked Mires, as he and Jack stood by the wheels.
"I never boasted of my strength," replied Jack, beginning to wonder
why so much interest was being manifested over so slight a matter. His
surprise was increased at that moment by discovering Fret Offut among
the spectators, his big mouth reaching almost from ear to ear with an
idiotic grin.
"Come to see the fun!" declared the latter, finding that he had been seen
by Jack.
"I'll take this one," said Mires, stooping over the nearest wheel which
was half buried in dust and dirt.
Then, without any apparent effort, the small sized workman raised the
wheel to his shoulder and walked back from the direction whence they
had come.
"Now see the big gawk lift his!" exclaimed Fret Offut, who had
somehow been let into the secret. Still ignorant of the deception being
played upon him, Jack North bent over to lift the remaining wheel.
Chapter III
A Long Trip Proposed

Having seen Mires carry off the other wheel with comparative ease,
Jack naturally expected to lift the remaining one without trouble.
His amazement may be therefore understood when, at his first effort, he
failed to move it an inch from the floor.
It lay there as solid as if bound down!
His failure was the signal for Fret Offut to break out into a loud laugh,
which was instantly caught up by the workmen, until the whole
building rang with the merriment.

"Baby!" some one cried. "See Mires carry his. North ain't got the
strength of a mouse!"
By that time Mires had reached the opposite end of the shop, and was
putting down his burden to turn and join in the outbursts over the
discomfiture of his young companion.
Jack had now awakened to the realization that he had been the easy
victim of a scheme to cast ridicule upon him.
Mires could never have carried away this wheel. The thought of the
trick which had been played upon him aroused all the latent energy he
possessed. He did not believe the wheel could weigh five hundred
pounds, and if it did not he would lift it, as he believed he could.
Thus, with the shouts and laughter of the spectators ringing in his ears,
Jack stooped for a second attempt to accomplish what no one else had
ever been able to do.
"I'll grunt for you!" called Offut in derision. "Spit on your hands!" said
a workman. Jack compressed his lips for a mighty effort, and his hands
closed on the rim of the wheel, while he concentrated every atom of
strength he had for the herculean task.
The cries of the onlookers suddenly stopped as they saw, to their
amazement, the ponderous object rise from the floor, slowly but surely,
until the young workman held it abreast of him. Not a sound broke the
deathlike stillness, save for the crunching of his own footsteps, as Jack
North walked across the shop and dropped his burden upon the wheel
Mires had placed there.
A loud crash